LEYDEN — Twenty-five-year-old Nicole Glabach is getting to know her Leyden neighbors from her new Town Hall office, following her election on May 13 as the new town clerk.
Glabach, a relative newcomer to town who moved to Leyden in 2014, was elected to finish out the last year of Elizabeth Johnson’s three-year term.
“My personal life simply got too busy,” Johnson explained of her reason for resigning. “It’s family affairs.”
Johnson originally stepped down Nov. 30 and Mary Lou Barton replaced her. However, Barton only served for about a week because the bonding agent, National Grange Mutual Insurance of Keene, N.H., denied the necessary coverage to allow Barton to hold the job, a decision that still mystifies town officials. Johnson then returned as town clerk until the election.
Glabach, who is originally from Erving, lives in Leyden with her husband Thomas Glabach, son of longtime selectman and Agricultural Commission member William Glabach. Given the family’s involvement in town government, Nicole Glabach said she received plenty of encouragement from her family.
“The Glabach name has had a lot to do with the town,” she said. “I had a good support system there. They were like ‘You should do it.’”
Glabach works as a paraprofessional at a Greenfield kindergarten. A graduate of Pioneer Valley Regional School, she is enrolled in Greenfield Community College’s early education degree program with a goal of one day becoming a speech therapist.
To learn the ropes at Town Hall, Glabach said she’s spent a lot of time with Johnson, who taught her the various responsibilities of town clerk, such as selling dog licenses, processing deaths and births, issuing marriage licenses and overseeing elections.
Glabach said the position has already allowed her to get to know her fellow Leyden residents.
“It’s fun to get to know a lot of the people in the town,” she said. “I didn’t know many of them by face.”
Still, the experience has been a bit surreal.
“I never thought that I’d be town clerk,” she said. “As a 25-year-old, I would have never thought I’d be where I am today.”
Glabach said her primary goal is to be available for townspeople. Though her office hours are Mondays and Wednesdays from 5:30 to 7 p.m., Glabach said she aims to be flexible and meet with residents at their convenience.
You can reach Shelby Ashline at: sashline@recorder.com
413-772-0261 ext. 257